Panaji Mar 29 PTI The Goa government has said it will provide three cooking gas cylinders free of cost to households in the coastal state as promised by the BJP in its election manifesto Chief Minister Pramod Sawant made the announcement on Monday after chairing the first meeting of the new cabinet comprising him and eight other ministers In a tweet on Monday evening Sawant said Chaired the first meeting after taking oath as CM The Cabinet has decided to formulate the 3 free cylinder scheme as promised in the BJP manifesto from the new financial year Before the Goa Assembly elections held last month the BJP had in its poll manifesto promised three LPG cylinders free of cost per year if voted to power Sawant also told reporters on Monday that resumption of iron ore mining and creating employment were his priorities during the current tenure On his opponents referring to him as an accidental CM Sawant said this time he is elected and not selected as the states chief minister Sawant had taken charge of the top post in 2019 after the death of then CM Manohar Parrikar In the recently concluded Assembly elections which the BJP fought under Sawants leadership the party won 20 seats in the 40-member House PTI RPS GK GK

Panaji Mar 21 PTI Pramod Sawant was on Monday unanimously elected the leader of the BJP legislature party in Goa paving the way for him to take over as the chief minister for a second term and soon after the ruling party staked a claim to form the new government with support from two MGP MLAs and three Independent legislatorsThe BJP which won 20 seats in the 40-member Assembly submitted letters of support from the MGP Goas oldest regional party and three Independents MLAs to Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai who invited Sawant to form the next governmentI am satisfied that 25 MLAs are supporting the claim of Dr Pramod Sawant Accordingly I hereby invite you to be appointed as the chief minister of Goa You will assume office after administration of oath the Governor said after receiving the lettersEarlier in the day Sawants name for the top post was cleared at a meeting of the newly elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders in Panaji in the eveningThe meeting was also attended by BJP central observers Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan Assembly poll in-charge Devendra Fadnavis and the partys state unit president Sadanand Shet TanavadeIt has been decided that Dr Pramod Sawant would be the leader of the House Tomar told reporters after the meetingTomar said MLA Vishwajit Rane proposed Sawants name as the leader of the BJP legislature party His proposal was seconded by other MLAs including Mauvin Godinho and Rohan KhaunteTomar said Sawants election was unanimousHe said the party will now stake a claim to form the next government in GoaThe BJP won 20 seats just one short of majority in the 40-member Assembly in the February 14 polls PTI RPS VT RSY RSY